The Locust by Josh Kurpius

When I took over the position of editor in February, I made a list of people and bikes that I wanted to feature. I immediately called Josh Kurpius and asked him if he ever received press for his personal bike. To my delight he stated that he had many offers but I could have it for Chop Cult. The Locust is a steel work of art built by Josh, with the help of a few friends’ kind donations. The best part of this feature for me is having Josh shoot his own bike. We all know Josh for his photography, hell you can tell it’s his photos before you even look at the photo credit in any magazine out there. His layouts are clean, focus is on point and the subjects seem to jump off the page.

Recently I received an email from fellow CC member Jason requesting a feature on The Locust as he put it best, “It would be awesome because that bike is one of the sickest chops of all time! Josh's bike kick started my love for Choppers". Jason, this feature is for you!

I picked up the pieces of this bike in the winter of 2004 from a gray beard that was down on his luck…. I finally owned my first motorcycle. The problem was that I didn't have the tools nor the money to put these pieces together. Fast forward to the fall of 2008 when my father decided to retire his business slowly trading off the pieces of his painting company for a welder and a shop full of machining tools. Now that I had access to the tools it was just a matter of figuring out how to use them. I didn't have a penny to my name but I had time, a lot of scrap metal and plenty of friends that helped me out by handing down the beat up parts that would help complete my bike. I made it my goal to do everything and learn how to do it myself as I built the bike from ground up. I started with the frame which was a Paughco rigid frame that came with my pile of parts. I first torched out all of the gussets and mounts then proceeded to make my own. My third weld was laid on this frame. I continued welding for a few months straight as I modified and molded the frame which made me pretty fimilar with a tig torch. My dad had recently picked up a Norton chopper with a long narrow springer front end on it. It was quite a bit too sketchy for his liking so I made a new stem for it and put it on the sportster frame.

At that time I hated long bikes but I couldn't be to choosy about the components since I had budget of zero and at that time there were very few long bikes running around so I just rolled with it. I enjoyed the challenge of using parts I wouldn't normally use making the lines flow and parts work together as if the were made for each other. Bobby at King Kustoms gave me the cut up sportster tank which I narrowed, dished and up stretched a little in the front then molded it into the frame.

Warren at JR's Cycle Products gave me a skirted fender which I modified to fit the style of the bike. Dave Polgreen hooked me up with a set of rabbit ear bars that I had to narrow to fit the trees. I made the oil tank, motor mount, battery box and sissy bar from scratch. To fit the 70's long bike feel, I made a King Queen seat pan which Rich Phillips covered for me and was the only thing I outsourced on this bike. The bottom end of the motor was assembled when I purchased it but I had to figure out how to fit the rest of the pieces together. In the process I decided to engrave and re-shape the rocker boxes to add a bit of elegance to the Ironhead motor. I also engraved an Indian face on the primary cover. To get things rolling I laced up a 19 inch steel rim to a rear sportster hub and put a 19 inch spool hub up front.

By this time it was spring and the anticipation of riding it was pretty great. I "barrowed" a set of pipes from my friend Chris Odom and took it for a ride. I haven't stopped riding it since. So this is what it looks like now. Beat up and worn out. It's been laying ground more times than I'd like to admit…. seen more miles than I could keep track of…. I could fill a novel of never-ending stories and every dent, crack and piece of bent steel is a clue to each chapter. The front end is tweaked, bars bent, covers cracked and the wheels a bit out of true but it always seems to ride like the wind. One day The Locust will be finished but until then I'm just going to keep riding it.

Next modification will be: The bike has never been completed…. Soon as it started for the first time fabrication kind of stopped and I've just been riding it ever since. Still need to fabricate some exhaust pipes, fresh'n Straighten out all the broken and bent parts then paint and chrome.

This chopper is hands down my favorite chopper ever and was/is the primary source of inspiration for my chopper. Josh's photography and his chopper are inspiring to me and move me at a deeper level. Would like to see this chop in person some day.

Thanks for the article...it will be saved on my computer and read for a long time

This chopper is my favorite chopper of all time. And it has been the primary inspiration in me building my chopper. Josh's chopper and photography are on a deeper level for me. I really hope I get to see this chop in person some day.